Fire-escape.



B. SSSI'S.

l FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION FILBD MARRE, 1913.

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. B. ssss.

. FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR. ze. 1913. 21913959 Patented. July M, i914.

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@Qi/tuamo B. s'ssls. FIRE ESGAIE.` APPLIOAUON FILED MAB.. 26, 1913.

Patented July 14, 1914.

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v l1/noauto@ Bernhard, -a'a'ga' i BERNHARD sssis, on new n Application led March 26, 3913.

T all fio/wm it muy concern.

Be it known that l-llnmnaau tiissis, a subject of the Czar of Russia7 residing at New `York city, in the countyT ofi' lie ilorli and State of New York, have invcn neuv and useful improvements in gedis(apesj of which the following is a Specification.

rl'his invention relates to lire esc pes and particularly to those adapted .for arri ment on the exterior et" buildings a has for its general object to improve the construction of a lire escape, so that it may serve as a car for readily and conveniently emptying a building of its occupants in a minimum of time. And to this end the invention consists in certain combination and arrangements of hereinafter more fully described and. pointed out in the pended claim.

Other objects will appear and he bet-ter understood from that embodiment of my inventionoi' which the following is a specifin cation, reference being had to the accompanying drawings foriningpart hereof, in whiclu- Figure l is a front elevation ci a building showing my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a top. plan view-thereof with the lousing removed. Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 3&3 '5f F ig. 2. F 4f is 'a cross sectional View taken on the line t-t of Fig. 2 and showing the car at its lowest position. Fig. 5 is a detail View of a portion o one of the rack bars. Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 6--6 of Fig'. 4l. Fig. T is a horizontal sectional vien showing a modiiied form of connecting the car to the end of a building.

My invention involves a thorough and radical departure from theforiner types o re escapes now in use. Heretofore, fire escapes have been permanently secured to the outsides ofbuildings and access to the same has been limited Ato the windows located adjacent thereto. The eiiiciency in time of need of this type often for various reasons, proven unsatisfactory.

My invention is designed to overcome the various defects of lire escapes now in use and to improve the outer appearance of buildings; and to these ends -Iny invention consists oi' providing the outer Wall of a building l with an upright pair of rack bars 2 over which is adapted to travel a car 3,

Specification of Letters latent .lower position as of tire 4escape has ra -f lowered over all the Windows on l y' means oiZ a suitable j mechanism connected to the building and to the fa The ear consists of two hingedly connected sections and 5, the section fi ot which provided with aplatform (3 on which is mounted an electric emitroller 7 it'orregulating the speed and upward and downward movement of the car when in use. The section 5 is formed with the sticas S and is held in its normal upper position as (shown in Figs. l and 3) by means of the side chains 9 engaging side or guard rails l0 mounted on tlie'sides'oi1 the section f. In thisposition the step section acts as a side guard for the car when the simo is muse; that is when the' car is carrying a load of people while descending.

Ail-ter the car has reached the ground or its loivermosiy position, the chains are released trom engagement with the side rails, thereby allowing thue step section to swing to its shown in Fig. d) whereby the-steps may be used by the occupants of the car to llesccnd to the groant.

Located within the bearing plates l1 secured to each end of the body of the car is a drive shaft 12 on the ends of which are keyed the pinions 13 for engagement with the rack bars 2 for hoisting and lowering the car when in use. rlhe inner ends of the bearing plates are provided with the hook portions 14 which are arranged to slide in the grooves l5 for ned in the side walls of the rack hars, for guiding the car in its upward and downward descent and for preventing the same from swinging away from the building. 4

A hoisting and lowering lrnm 1G keyed to the shaft 12 at the central portion of the car, and over which. is coiled the` lower ends of a pair of cables 17, the upper ends of which are coiled around the drums 18 and 19 mounted on a shaft 20 held in suitable hearings secured to the top of the building. A. pulley 2l mounted on the shaft 20 between the drums i8 and i9, is adapted to loe operated through a drivingV cable 29 from an electric motor 23 for Winding and unlllO windingv the drums when the device is in use.

An additional hoisting and lowering mechanism forthe operation of the device 1s also employed. This mechanism com- -prises .drums 24 and 25 mounted on each end ofthe shaft 25', and held in suitable bearings secured to the top of the building. Around these drums are coiled thecables 26 and 27, each of which is adapted to be wound and unwound upon`its drum when the-car is in use. These cables operate simultaneously and in conjunction with the cables 17 duringthe raising and lowering of the car. From the inner ends of the drums each of the cables pass backward over a sheave28 then forward over a sheave 29 located on the top edge ofthe building, then around sheaves 30, 3l and 32 located on the car7 then upward around a sheave 3? also located on the top of the building and then backward around a sheave 84 to the other or outer end ofthe drum, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. A pulley 35 mounted on the central portion of the shaft 25, is also adapted to be operated through a driving cable 3G fromr theelectric motor 23 for winding and unwinding the drums 24 and 25 when the device is in use.

The car is also designed 37 to which may be connected at suitable points, the usual lire hose when the same is desired to be used vfor more advantageously fighting a re.

In the .modification shown in Fig. 7, the end of the car is shown provided with an extended and rounded end portion 40 which is adapted to embrace the corner of a building Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the to carry -a pipe and to be guided within the groovcd rack bar 4l, as shown. In this form the rack bar is provided with angularly disposed teeth which are engaged by pinions 42 and 43 connected by means of the bevel gears 44 and 45, the lgear 45 and pinion 43 being mounted on the drive shaft 46.

A suitable housing (not shown in the drawings) may be provided for protecting the operating elements of my improved device against the various weather conditions.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary rangements of parts without departing from the spirit of my invention and therefore I do not wish to be limited to such features except as may be required by the claim.

What is claimed as new is:

A fire escape adapted to be used in combination with a building comprising bars arranged vertically along the building each having angularly disposed sides, two of the adjacent said sides being provided with longitudinally disposed grooves and two of the y adjacent sides being provided with teeth, a car mounted for movement along the bars and having hook portions which are slidably received in the grooves, gear wheels journaled upon the car and operatively connected together and meshingwith theteeth upon the bars7 and means mounted upon the building for rotating the gear wheels.

In .testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

BERNHARD SUSSIS.

Witnesses:

Louis CHRYSTAL, Geo. A. Brunn.

Commissioner of a Patents,

Washington, '.D. C.

the details of construction and ar-A i 

